


Early Friends

by CitrusSP



Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Cafe Leblanc (Persona 5), Childhood Friends, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Minako is Hamuko here, Multi, Persona 5: The Royal Spoilers, Twin Minato and Minako
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:18:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22330168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CitrusSP/pseuds/CitrusSP
Summary: An AU if Ren moved to Tokyo early in his life and met most of his friends before the game was supposed to begin.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Sakura Futaba, Amamiya Ren/Yoshizawa Sumire | Yoshizawa Kasumi, Niijima Makoto/Okumura Haru, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakura Futaba, Persona 5 Protagonist/Yoshizawa Sumire | Yoshizawa Kasumi, Sakamoto Ryuji/Takamaki Ann, Sakura Futaba/Yoshizawa Sumire
Comments: 32
Kudos: 113





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the project I've been working on for a while now.  
> I've wanted to do this because there weren't (at least to my knowledge) any Shutaba fics where they become friends early in their lives.  
> Then so many ideas went through my head. It made it harder on what to do.  
> Then I decided to tell a story that is a bit of the AU as well as a bit of Persona 5 Royal sprinkled in there.  
> And who knows, maybe when Scramble comes out, I'll do my own take on it.  
> Anyways, Hope y'all enjoy!

“We made it. Ren, wanna look?”

As the 9 year old stopped playing with his Green and Blue Neo Feathermen figures and looked out the car window, he took a look at Tokyo. The buildings were big and there were people everywhere. It was one of the reasons why Ren didn’t want to go here.

“Why are we here?”

He had to miss the new episode of Neo Feathermen XR.

“We’re only here for the rest of today and tomorrow morning. We’re visiting an old friend.” Mei Amamiya explained to her son.

“His name is Sojiro Sakura. He has a daughter too. She’s only a year younger than you. Maybe you two will get along.” Yuuta Amamiya said.

Ren gleamed a bit before setting his expectations lower. His friends back in Kyoto pretty much despised whatever nerdy thing he liked, saying they were ‘too cool for those nerdy pieces of plastic’. Whether it be Neo Feathermen or the newest game that came out. They just made fun of him for liking it, then later ‘apologizing’ and say it’ll never happen again. That was a frequent thing. 

He thought that this girl was going to do the same thing.

As they arrived, they parked the car and walked across the street. After a bit of walking, he saw a restaurant, named “Leblanc.” His parents were going to go inside before seeing their hesitant son.

“It’ll be fine.” Mei comforted him.

“We’ll be inside. You can wait a bit out here until you’re ready to come in, ok?” Yuuta said.

His parents went inside while he still hesitated a bit.

‘Come on, Ren. You got this.’

He took a deep breath in and a deep breath out. He walked inside while hiding his figurine behind him.

His parents were there, as well as a woman with glasses, black hair, red lipstick, and black clothing. Along with her was a man who was also wearing glasses and had black hair. He was wearing an apron over his casual clothing.

“Here he is, our little RenRen.” Mei said, walking over to him and squeezing his cheeks.

“Mooom!” Ren whined.

His mom stopped, starting to introduce him to the two other grownups.

“Hello, I’m Wakaba Isshiki. You don’t need to worry. I won’t bite.” The older woman said, kneeling down.

“Sojiro Sakura. Nice to meet you.”

“Pleasure to meet you both. I’m Ren Amamiya.”

“Nice to meet you too, Ren. Your parents talk so much about you.” Wakaba said, smiling.

Ren blushed at that fact.

“Anyways, wanna meet Futaba?”

“Oh, n-no, it’s fin-“

“Come on down here, Futaba!”

He started sweating, confused as to why the older man didn’t listen to him. As he heard footsteps coming down, he started to panic. What if she was a buff girl and could whoop his butt? What if she was a punk and made fun of him for anything he did?

Once he came back to reality to face his fears, he was blown away. There stood a very young girl, around his age. She had long, orange hair, lavender eyes, and wore real glasses. The ones he wore were fake, but he loved how the glasses looked on him, so he wore them a lot.

He had her arms behind her back just like he did.

“Say hi, Futaba.”

“H-hi…” She said very shyly.

“Hi.”

They both stared at each other for what felt like an eternity.

“Go on.” Mei said, patting him on the back.

Ren slowly but steadily walked up towards Futaba.

“Oh look, he has one of those things Futaba has. Um…” Sojiro rubbed his head, trying to remember the name.

“Neo Featherman?” Wakaba said.

“Yeah, that’s the one!”

Ren wanted to crawl into a hole and die. He tried his best to hide the toy from Futaba, yet Wakaba and Sojiro spoiled it all.

But Futaba’s eyes widened. She brought up her arms, revealing the Pink and Red Feathermen. Ren’s eyes widened as well, bringing up the Green and Blue Feathermen.

They were too shocked to say anything. Instead, Ren looked back at his parents, who signaled him to go on.

For the first time that day, Ren smiled. He looked back at Futaba, who still looked shocked.

“Do you have anymore?”

“Yeah! They’re back in my room in my house though…Mom, can we go back to the house?”

Wakaba nodded. “The doors unlocked.”

“Yay!”

Futaba took Ren’s hand and ran out the door.

“Kids these days.” Yuuta chuckled.

* * *

As Ren took a look at her entire room. It was like heaven. She had Neo Featherman figures and posters, a few other posters Ren either knew or didn’t, a game system, and a computer.

“This is a very nice room.” Ren said.

“Thank you!”

Ren saw her figurines. She had all of them except Green. Weirdly enough she had two Reds. Kinda like him, where he has two Greens but no Red.

“You’re missing Green.” Ren pointed out.

“Yeah...unfortunately, Green’s my favorite, too.”

Ren looked down on his Green.

“Here, you can have this one.”

Futaba looked like she forgot every word she’s learned.

“Really?!?”

“Yep, and you can give me one of your Reds, since I don’t have one.”

Futaba snatched the Green out of his hands and ran over to her collection. She took a bit, but she made a pose with Green while grabbing her spare Red.

She ran over to Ren and gave him the Red.

“Consider this trade done!”

“Thank you.” Ren said, ecstatic.

Futaba looked at her clock.

“Oh, it’s almost time!”

She ran over to the T.V. in her room and turned it on. Ren looked at the clock. 4:57 p.m. The new episode of Neo Featherman XR was about to air. Ren smiled.

Turns out he wouldn’t miss the new episode at all.

Both him and Futaba sat on her bed, waiting in anticipation. As the clock struck 5 o’ clock, both of the kids got up. They looked at each other in surprise but decided to go along with it anyways. Then, they danced along to the Neo Featherman XR Opening as they sang along. They were horrible at singing, but that didn’t stop them from having a fun time.

They kept dancing along until they got too close and bumped into each other. They fell to the ground, both of them being silent. As the intro kept playing, the two eventually laughed at their current predicament.

“You weeb!” Futaba laughed.

“I’m the weeb? Both of us were dancing and singing! If anything, we’re both weebs!”

The two continued to laugh for a little while the show went on. They focused their attention back to the show. After that was over, the two decided to play a game until dinner was ready. Futaba was good, but Ren was better. Any game they played, Ren got the better stats.

“No fair! You’re cheating!” Futaba pouted.

“How can I cheat?”

“Y-you’re stealing all the good items!”

“I’m not stealing at all. But I did steal one thing.”

“Oh? And what’s that?” Futaba crossed her arms.

Ren took off his fake glasses

“Your heart.”

Silence. Then Futaba started laughing.

“That was so bad!”

“Hey, I tried.” Ren chuckled while putting his glasses on.

“Terribly bad at singing and pick up lines? You think you’re some kind of Joker, don’t you?”

“No I don’t.”

“Yes, you do, Joker!”

“Is that what you’re gonna call me?”

“Yep.”

“Then, I’ll call you…’Oracle’!”

Futaba gasped. “Like the villian from Episode 20 of Neo Featherman XR?!?! How dare you compare me to her?”

“Because I can.” Ren grinned.

“Ok, Joker. I’m gonna give you one big beatdown!”

“I accept this challenge, Oracle.”

The two played a bit more before Ren felt a little hungry.

“Do you know what’s for dinner?”

“Oh, Sojiro’s delicious curry! Have you tried it before?”

“I have not.”

“Then you haven’t truly lived yet.”

Right on cue, Yuuta peeked through the door, saying that dinner was ready. As the kids followed him back, Sojiro already put the plates on the table. As the adults ate at the bar and kitchen, Ren and Futaba ate at a table. Ren blew on his food before putting it on his mouth. The moment he tasted the curry…

He felt like a spark went throughout his entire body.

He stuffed more curry in his mouth very quickly. The curry was a perfect combination of sweet and spicy. The cinnamon and rice added on to the delicious flavor.

Sojiro chuckled. "I can tell your son's a big fan."

As Ren kept stuffing his face with curry, he made a big mess with his face.

Futaba giggled.

"What's wrong?" Ren asked.

"There's a lot of curry on your face!"

"Oh really? Where?" Ren said, making a bigger mess on his face on purpose.

Futaba giggles harder.

As Ren wiped himself off, the two kids put their plates up. After that the two kids went back to Futaba’s house and played games until they fell asleep. Wakaba walked in checking on them. She found them, sleeping peacefully. Wakaba grabbed Futaba's blanket and put it on Ren and Futaba.

“They’re already so close with each other. If this keeps up, they may even turn out to be lovers.” Wakaba joked as she walked back in the cafe.

“Yeah…they clicked together really quickly.” Mei giggled.

The adults talked a while before the doorbell rang.

The startled adults looked to see a tired Ren and Futaba.

“Oh Hey, sport.” Yuuta said casually.

“Hi…” Ren yawned.

“So Ren…do you like it here?” Mei asked.

Ren suddenly looked more awake.

“I  _ love  _ it here!”

“That’s great!”

“Still wish we could stay here longer though…”

The two parents looked at each other.

“Well, seeing as you liked it so much here, we thought we’d tell you the truth.” Mei said.

“The truth?”

“Yep. Truth is I got a new job here.” Yuuta said.

Ren connected the pieces. He looked at Futaba, who also looked shocked.

Both of them looked back at their parents.

“We’re moving here?!” “He’s moving here?!” Both kids cried at the same time.

“Yes, we are!” Both parents said.

Ren and Futaba were silent for a little bit. Until both kids cheered. The two kids hugged each other.

Finally, Ren felt he can make real friends here. And Futaba can have her very first one.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today is Ren and Futaba's first day of school together. What could possibly happen?

**_One year later…_ **

“Wake up, champ!”

Ren groggily opened his eyes to see his father, Yuuta, with a smile.

“I’ll wake up later…” Ren said, half awake.

“Hm. Well, that’s too bad. Alright, I’ll wake you up later. I’ll just have to tell Wakaba that you couldn’t keep your promise to Futaba.” he said as he left the room and closed the door.

Ren’s eyes opened his eyes so fast, any faster and he would’ve broken his eyelids. He got up and started to get dressed.

Even though Yuuta was away from the room, he grinned, knowing the effect that it had on his son.

As soon as Ren was in his uniform and brushed his teeth, he ran over to Leblanc as fast as he could.

As he opened the door, Futaba and Sojiro were standing there. Wakaba had to go to work but said how happy she was and said to text her a picture of the two together.

“Now kids, Wakaba wants a picture of you two together get together.” Sojiro said, taking out his phone.

Futaba and Ren did as told. While Sojiro was taking their pictures, Ren couldn’t help but think of how cute Futaba looked in that uniform.

Likewise, Futaba couldn’t stop thinking about Ren in his uniform as well. This led to her blushing and Sojiro capturing it.

After that was done, Sojiro drove the two to their school. Since Mei got a job at the diner, and Yuuta and Wakaba had to go to their jobs, Sojiro decided it would be best to drive the two.

“Have a great day at school you two!” He called out.

“Thanks, Sojiro!” Futaba yelled while Ren waved. Sojiro waved back and drove back to Leblanc.

The two kids looked back at each other.

“This is going to be great!” Futaba said, clearly hyped up right now. “I get to be going to school with you! We’ll have so much fun together!”

Ren smiled. “Yep. Let’s try to.”

* * *

So far, the day was amazing for the two. They actually got the same class and Futaba sat behind Ren. So far the school day went by very quickly. Then at lunch, they didn’t know where to sit so they sat outside on a bench. They both had Sojiro’s curry for lunch. Even though it was cold, it still tasted delicious. The flavors still stood out among the temperature of the dishes.

They were having a blast.

Then, Futaba saw a lonely girl away from the others. She tapped Ren’s shoulder a few times. As he also looked at the girl, he looked back at Futaba. They knew they had to talk to her.

So the two walked up to her. She wasn’t like any of the others though. While most of the girls in the school had black or brown hair, this girl had dirty blonde hair. She also had pigtails. As the two walked over to her, she slowly looked up.

“Umm..hi.” Futaba started.

“...hi.” The girl replied.

“Are you okay? You seem pretty lonely.”

The girl looked down.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Shiho is sick today and Ryuji is practicing, so I didn’t know where to sit, seeing as other students took our usual spot.”

“That’s horrible! Wanna sit with us?”

“S-sure…”

As the three kids walked back to their spot, they realized that other kids took it. But that’s not what made Futaba mad. They left their lunch there too, so the other kids were eating away at their curry.

“M-my curry…”

As the three kids walked back over, Futaba spoke up.

“Hey! That’s our food!”

“So?” said one of the kids as she took a bit out of the curry. “What are you gonna do? Let your boyfriend over here attack us?” She said as she pointed at Ren.

Before Futaba could comment that they weren’t dating, the kid’s friend said something.

“If you haven’t heard, this is our territory! So why don’t you three scramble outta here.” He said.

“Hey, why don’t you leave them alone!” one kid’s voice said across from them.

The kids all looked to that kid, who was walking towards them.

“Ryuji!” the girl said.

“Oh yeah? Make us!”

“What was that?!” Ryuji exclaimed. The black-haired student clearly has a temper, Ren thought.

Before Ryuji could make a move however, The Girl held him back.

“Oh! Would you look at that! They’re holding back.” The kid laughed. Her friends joined in. “Weaklings.” She said with such edge.

Futaba whimpered a bit behind Ren. The kid called Ryuji was being held back by the girl. This is where Ren lost it. He was called that back in the other school, he wasn’t going to be called that again.

Ren glared at them.

**“** **_Take. That. Back._ ** **”**

His voice became so scary, even his friends became slightly afraid of him. But it seemed to do its job efficiently. It scared the crap out of the kid and her three friends. So much so that they bailed.

“Yeah, that’s right! You better run!” Ryuji called out after them.

“...my curry…” Futaba said, looking at the empty container.

“Don’t worry, they’ll never do that again.” Ren said, his tone switching drastically.

“Y-you can’t do that!” The girl exclaimed.

“Do what?” Ren asked, genuinely confused.

“Act all scary one moment and the next acting so soft! You scared the daylights out of me!”

Ren chuckled.

“Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. Oh! I forgot to introduce myself! I’m Ann Takamaki.” She said as she pointed at herself.

“Ryuji Sakamoto. I can tell we’re gonna get along just fine.” He smirked, crossing his arms.

“Ren Amamiya.”

“Futaba Sakura, and don’t you forget it!”

As they sat down and started talking, a teacher walked up to them. They got nervous and worried that the girl had snitched on them.

“Hey, have you kids seen a kitten around here?”

Well, that was unexpected.

“No, sir. Why?” Ren replied.

“Well, there was a stray kitten that came to this school and we don’t know where it is. And as you can remember, we strictly have no animals allowed on campus.”

“Oh.”

The teacher nodded as he walked off.

“That’s…weird…” Ann said, bewildered.

“I know. Like anyone would believe a stray cat got her-“

Ryuji was interrupted with a meow. All 4 kids looked in front of them to see a black and white kitten with blue eyes.

It meowed again.

Ren walked up to the kitten. Even though all it said were meows, it felt as though…it was talking to him.

He picked it up.

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe.” He said as he put the kitten in his bag. “But you’re gonna have to stay silent.”

“Wha-Dude!” 

“What?”

“You’re keeping a kitten in your bag! That’s a little weird.” Ann said.

“Well, where else can I put him?”

Futaba just walked up to the kitten.

“Kitty.” She said as she patted it. The kitten purred.

“I mean…he does look cute.” Ann confessed as she petted the kitten as well. The kitten’s purr was even louder.

“I think he likes you.” Ren said.

“Really?”

“Oh, please. I can do that.” Ryuji said as he patted the kitten. Unknowingly (and not trying to), he came off as a bit rough. So the kitten swatted his hand away.

“Wha-?”

“And, I can tell he  _ doesn’t _ like you.”

“Dang, Ryuji. You can’t even get a kitty to like you.” Futaba said.

“I-I can! J-Just not this one…” Ryuji said, hand behind his neck.

“Sooo…what are we going to name him?” Ann asked, hoping to name him.

“...Morgana.” Ren replied.

“Huh?” Ryuji said.

“That’s a weird name for a male kitty.” Ann said, slightly disappointed.

“How did you come up with that, Ren?” Futaba asked, curious to the name.

“I don’t know. Looking at him…just made me think of that name.”

The kitten meowed again.

“See? He accepts it.” Ren said, triumphantly.

“Think he’s a cat whisperer?” Ann leaned to ask Ryuji.

“I dunno. Whatever it is, it’s a bit weird.”

“...Mona. We can nickname him ‘Mona’!”

Ryuji and Ann looked at her weirdly before sighing in defeat.

“I guess that could also work.”

“Yes! Bonafide Monafide!” Futaba yelled, messing with the kitten’s cheeks.

The bell then rang. Before anyone else could see the kitten, Ren shoved the kitten into his bag.

“Guess we gotta go back to class now.” Ryuji said.

“Aw that sucks. Well, see y’all later!” Futaba said, her and Ren starting to walk away.

“Wait, what? We’re in the same class.” Ann said.

“Huh?!” Futaba said, eyes widened

It turns out they were, in fact, in the same classroom. Ann sat in front of Ren, and Ryuji sat next to her.

“I guess we were too far focused on the two of us, I didn’t pay attention to anyone else.” Futaba said to Ren.

“I agree.”

The rest of the day was amazing. After class was over, the four kids went out to the front and waited for their parents to arrive, leaving them plenty of time to talk to one another.

Then after a while, Sojiro drove in.

“Bye!” Futaba waved. Ren also waved.

“See you tomorrow!” Ann and Ryuji waved back

* * *

To say Mei and Yuuta were surprised would be an understatement. When kids come back from their first day of school, they usually come home with new friends and such.

Not a stray kitten.

“So can I keep him? Please?” Ren asked.

Yuuta and Mei looked at each other.

“Alright fine. But you have to train to take care of itself when we’re not around.” Yuuta said.

“I will admit…he does look cute.” Mei said as she picked up the kitten and started rubbing its tummy.

It meowed in pleasure.

Ren smiled.

“What’s his name again? Morgana, right?”

Ren nodded.

As Ren smiled at the kitten once again, Morgana meowed at him and seemed to stretch out towards him.

Again, it felt as though Morgana was talking to him. But, Ren didn’t want to look weird in front of his parents.

So he thought,

‘You’re welcome.’


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first time that the small group of friends hang out. They also reveal more about their backstories...

A few days have passed since Ren and Futaba friended Ann and Ryuji and took in Morgana.

Apparently that group from earlier, more specifically the leader's friend who was named spread rumors about Ren and how scary he was. They overexaggerated everything to make Ren sound like a demon. Whenever Ren walked down a hallway, people looked the other way or start to shake in fear. Whenever he got an answer right, people murmured their surprises as if they thought of him to be dumb. And worst of all, call him a criminal.

He had no idea where that came from, but it apparently spread like wildfire.

But he didn’t care.

He already has his best friends that know the truth and care for him.

One day, after class was over, Ann turned over to them.

“Hey guys, why don’t we hang out somewhere?”

The other three companions looked at each other.

“We never really hung out with each other besides lunch. Why don’t we learn more about our personal lives?”

Ren shrugged. “I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

“Yes! What about you two?”

Futaba and Ryuji wondered for a bit.

“Fine. But don’t make it too girly.” Ryuji groaned, thinking of the many places and talks they would have.

“Well, If Ren is going, I’m coming as well.”

“Excellent! Now, where do we go?

The four pondered for a bit.

Before Morgana started meowing.

“What the-“ Ryuji started. “You brought him to school?!?” He whispered.

“I bring him everyday. Also, he suggested Ann’s house.” Ren said, widening the small zipper hole he made. Then, Morgana’s small head popped out.

“Awww, he looks so cute! Who’s a good Mona? You are, you are…” Futaba sang while she messed with Morgana’s cheeks once again.

Ann and Ryuji were about to comment on what Ren said, but didn’t even bother. This wasn’t a surprise anymore.

“Well, we could always go to my apartment. My mom’s gonna be busy again, and she wouldn’t mind anyone I bring along. It’s also not too far from here.” Ryuji suggested.

“Sounds nice. Let’s go.”

* * *

After calling their parents, Ren and Futaba were clear. Ann said she didn’t need to and that she’ll explain it to Ren and Futaba later.

They took the subway.

And it was Futaba’s worst time of her life.

Not only did she think of it as disgusting, it was also really cramped. She could barely see Ren, but only because she saw Morgana’s tail.

Speaking of, poor Morgana. On top of being in a school bag, he was also crushed by people. It was like being toasted and flattened alive.

“You ride this everyday?” Futaba asked Ryuji.

He nodded. That was all he could do.

“I feel sorry for you.”

* * *

After the short yet cramped ride, they made it to Ryuji’s complex. The kids walked up to his door and he took out his keys and opened it. Inside wasn’t anything much. There was a small living room with a blanket on the couch. A small kitchen. And the bedroom was small. Ryuji walked over to the bedroom.

“Sorry that it isn’t that much.” He said.

“It’s fine. In fact, I like it a bit. Small yet efficient.” Ren said.

Ryuji smiled. “Thanks.”

He opened the door to reveal his room. Inside were trophies on a desk and a small T.V. with a gaming console. His blanket and pillow were on the floor. 

Ryuji went out to see what snacks there were while the rest got comfy.

“You ever been here, Ann?” Futaba asked, remembering that the two were friends before Ren and Futaba came.

“No, I haven’t. This is my first time like you guys’.”

“Huh. How long have you two been friends?”

“Hmm…roughly two years now. We met each other when he ended up running into me and apologizing. I apologized back and we became friends since.”

“That’s nice. Very physical, but nice.” Futaba said.

Ann blushed at the memory. “Yeah…Wait, no! Not that physical!”

As Futaba was cackling, Ren then remembered something. He opened his bag and let Morgana out. Morgana flopped to the floor, sweating.

“Is he going to be okay?” Ann asked.

“He’ll be fine.” Ren stated.

“Wow. After all that too. Imagine if Morgana ended up being a magic cat. Or an immortal cat! I could pet him for all of eternity.” Futaba said, hands groping the air.

“What’s this I hear about immortal cat? If you’re talking about that one, then that cat will haunt me for the rest of my days.” Ryuji said, coming in with a few bags of chips, juice boxes, and a sushi platter.

As soon as Morgana saw that platter, he was instantly on Ryuji’s leg, constantly meowing.

“What’s up with you?! Does he do this everyday!?!”

“Only around sushi.” Ren said, flatly.

“Ugh. Fine.”

Ryuji put the platter down and grabbed 4 pieces of sushi, letting Morgana have the rest. He gave Ren, Futaba, and Ann one. As they started eating their snacks, Ren kept glancing towards Futaba every once in a while.

And Ann noticed it.

“So. Anyone here have any crushes?” She asked.

Every single noise in the room stopped. Even Morgana stopped eating and looked at Ann.

Ren looked at Ann, realizing she must’ve seen him looking at Futaba. Futaba blushed. Ryuji just facepalms. Morgana just walks up to Ann, rubbing on her leg, purring.

“Well, Morgana likes you.”

“Aww, I like him too!” Ann said, picking him up and rubbing his belly. Morgana was really enjoying this.

“I think dating is a waste of time.” Ryuji said.

“No, it isn’t! Dating is a sign of true love!” Ann retorted.

As the two went on and on, Ren and Futaba looked at each other and shrugged. They turned on the gaming console and started playing.

The ultimate shock of their life came when they found Ryuji playing a Hentai Dating Sim.

Ryuji looked to it and blushed furiously. He ran over to the system and turned it off quickly.

“H-how about we talk about our lives!? That’d be a more fun activity.” He chuckled awkwardly.

Ren and Futaba glanced towards each other then started giggling.

“What is it?” Ann asked, really confused as to what they’re laughing about,

“I-it’s nothing.” Ryuji said, sitting back down.

“Anyways, let’s talk. Who wants to go first?” Ren asked.

“Well, I did say I would tell you guys why I didn’t need to ask my parents. So I will.” Ann said.

“My parents are world-famous fashion designers.”

“Huh, that’s really cool.”

“Yeah, I’m not into all that, but that sounds awesome.”

“Not really. Since they are  _ that _ famous, they usually tend to go all over the world, leaving me back here.”

“Oh…” Futaba said.

“It’s not entirely bad, though. Just a bit lonely. But I got you guys now. So, I guess it all works out in the end, right?” Ann smiled.

“Yep. I guess it does.” Ren smiled.

“So, who wants to go next?” Ann said.

“Well, I could go next.” Futaba said. “It isn’t really much though.”

“Nonsense! Now, speak your past!”

“Very well, ‘Lady Ann’. My mom is a scientist studying on cognitive psience and she has a partner with her. I don’t really remember his name but I call him Yoshi-man. I don’t really know my real dad but I got Sojiro, who runs a cafe in Yongen.”

“Is it LeBlanc?” Ann asked.

“Yeah!”

“When my parents did come back and we went to Yongen, we had LeBlanc. My parents praised its curry and coffee. I just love it’s curry!”

“Yeah! So delicious! Anyways, that’s all for my story.”

“I’ll go next.” Ren said, readjusting his glasses. “I came from Kyoto. My dad is a lawyer and my mom is a waitress in the Diner in Shibuya. Back in Kyoto, I had some friends, although we didn’t really have any interests. Now that I look back at it, I feel like they were only friends with me because of how smart I was, so I could help them out when they needed something. Then I moved here and met Futaba then you guys. That’s my story.”

“Well, I’m glad you got better friends.” Futaba said, grinning.

Ren smiled back.

“Yeah. Anyways, your turn Ryuji.”

“Huh? Well… my story really isn’t really as happy as you guys’ story.”

“Come on, Ryuji! We’ve spilled our lives, you can spill yours!” Ann exclaimed.

Ryuji sighed, knowing there was no way out.

“Well...where to start… Ann knows about how much I hate shitty people. Mostly adults, but there will be a kid every now and then. But I haven’t told her the reason why I do.”

He sighed once again.

“Not too long ago, when my dad was still around, he’d get drunk. A lot. And when he got drunk, he’d start beating on me and my mom, sometimes just verbally abusing us. Then, one night it got so bad, I called the police. He went to jail for… I don’t know how long. But my mom has gotten bruises and still has some of those bruises to this day.”

“Ryuji…” Ann started to feel bad about pushing him to confess.

“She does so much for me. Working so much, letting me have the bedroom, all that. One day, I just want to give back. For the times my dad was ruthless. For the times she sacrificed something for me.”

Ryuji started to feel tears going down his cheeks.

“Dammit…” He said, wiping away his tears.

Then, he felt something on his shoulder. He looked up to see Ren.

“You will. And I can help out with that.”

“WE can help out.” Futaba said, standing behind Ren.

“Ryuji… I’m sorry I pressed it on. But, I will help out any way I can.” Ann said, putting her hand on top of Ryuji’s.

Even Morgana just got on his lap and started to rub on him.

“I don’t deserve you guys.”

Then, they banded together for a group hug. They felt like they could stay like this forever.

Until they heard the door open and close.

“Ryuji! I’m back!”

Ryuji instantly got up and ran over to her. The rest of the group was in tow.

“Mom, these are my friends; Ren, Futaba, and Ann.”

“Nice to meet you all. He always talks about you.” She said, winking at Ann.

Ann blushed and Ryuji facepalmed himself.

“Mom…”

Futaba got a closer look at her. She looked so… fragile. Like if she blew on her, she would fall to the ground. She also looked tired. But she was still really nice.

Ren looked at his phone. 5:30.

“Oh, Futaba! We gotta get home!”

Futaba looked at her phone as well.

“Oh, you’re right! Sorry, but we gotta go! Bye!”

“I’ll come with you two.” Ryuji’s mom said, waking with them. “Need to come along too?”

“Oh, I was planning to sleepover if that was okay.”

Ryuji blushed instantly.

“Oh, that’d be great! Stay safe, you two.” She said as she walked out with Ren and Futaba.

“Thank you, Miss…” Ren started

“Alice. It’s my pleasure.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two Short stories introducing Makoto, Haru, and the Yoshizawa Twins!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 2nd Year Anniversary!  
> I can’t believe it’s been two years already. Anyways, as a gift, I’ll not only update this fic, but I’ll also update the Ashen Demons, Umaru and Kirie, and Skullgirls today as well! Enjoy!

Makoto Niijima has always been a loner.

Her mother died when she was very young, so she didn’t remember her at all. Her dad was always out trying to support her and her sister. Speaking of her sister, they did have moments together, but since Sae didn’t share the same interests and was busy with school herself, those times didn’t come up often.

While Makoto was striving to be a great student, the path to that life has been hard and lonely. Everyone saw her as this “all-perfect suckup.”

But she tried her damned best to not let that get to her.

When lunchtime came around, she was eating while doing some math in the courtyard. As she ate her lunch, she looked across the courtyard.

There she saw a bunch of friends eating together, laughing, and playing around. One had black messy hair, the other had long orange hair (both had glasses on), one was the black haired runner she heard about here and there, one had pale blonde hair tied into pigtails, and the girl right beside her had black hair in a ponytail.

Makoto sighed at the sight. She dreamed of having friends like them. But for right now, she would have to concentrate on her work.

As she turned to continue her work, she accidentally pushed her Buchimaru pencil case off her papers. As she got up to pick up the case and spilled pencils, her papers flew off the bench.

“Oh no!”

As she picked up her pencils and pencil case, she put them on the bench before running after her papers.

As the papers finally landed, a girl picked them up for her.

“Are these yours?” She asked in a light pitched voice.

“They are. Thank you.” Makoto said, taking the papers.

Makoto actually got a good look at the girl. She seemed to be the same age as she was. She had fluffy pale brown hair. She seemed like a sweet girl all around.

“What are you studying?”

“Math.”

“Oh wow. I’m really bad at that. Can you tutor me?”

Makoto was surprised. Nobody asked her for her guidance before.

“Uh, sure.”

“Great!”

So for the next few minutes, Makoto and the girl studied math while finishing up their lunches before the bell rang.

“Alright, well that should be it for now.”

“Thanks… I haven’t gotten your name yet.”

“Oh, my apologies. Makoto Niijima.”

“Haru Okumura. Thanks for this, Mako-Chan.”

“Mako-Chan?”

“Oh, sorry. I just wanted to call you that. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Oh, I don’t mind at all.”

“Okay. Can we do this again sometime?”

“Sure, I’d love to.”

“Great. See you tomorrow!” Haru said, leaving to go to her classroom

Makoto smiled.

‘Guess I got a friend after all…’

* * *

Ren, Futaba, Ryuji, Ann, and Shiho made their way to Ryuji’s apartment to hang out once again. For whatever reason, the train was relatively empty. Well, compared to the other few times.

But thanks to this, Ren noticed two girls sitting right across from them. One had brown hair in a ponytail tied by a ribbon and the other had long smooth red hair and wore glasses. Ren has seen them here and there in school, but never interacted with them.

The brown hair noticed an old lady carrying a few groceries.

"Please, take my seat. Me and my sister's station is coming up."

"Are you sure?"

"Kasumi, are you sure?" The red hair whispered.

"Yep! Especially since our stop is almost here." 

"Ok, then…" the old lady said.

But just as the brown hair got up, a man quickly sat down.

"Oh wow, what speed!" The red hair murmured.

"Excuse me, that seat was for this lady…" the brown hair said.

The man just looked up at her for a small second before falling asleep.

"Oh…" the brown hair said.

Ren decided to butt in.

"Want me to wake him up?"

"No, it's alright. I can understand his position as well."

"Y-You can take my seat." The red hair said, getting up.

"Oh, thank you dearie."

As the group left the train, Ren heard someone running towards them. He told the others to go on ahead. He turned around to see the two from earlier.

"Pardon us. Thank you so much for earlier." The brown hair said, bowing her head.

"With what?" Ren asked. He knew what he did, but didn't know why it warranted a thank you.

"For speaking up when I offered my seat on the train."

"We could have told him tomorrow. We go to the same school." the red hair said.

"I know, but I didn't want it to seem like his action went unnoticed. And I didn't want to be rude to our senpai."

'Senpai?' Ren thought.

"Anyways, please pardon us." She bowed before turning to leave.

"Wait, I never got your names." Ren said.

"Kasumi and Sumire Yoshizawa. Your name?"

"Ren Amamiya."

"Pleasure to meet you, Ren! See you around."

With that, the two sisters left.

As Ren turned around to run to Ryuji's apartment, he realized all of them were watching.

"Dude, you were called 'senpai!' I'm so jealous." Ryuji said.

"What, you want someone to call you senpai?" Ann asked.

"I know I wouldn't." Shiho said.

As they were talking, Futaba felt a weird feeling in her chest.

'What's this feeling?' Futaba thought. 'Am I… jealous? Nah!'

"Why would you tell him our names? We barely know him nor the friends he interacts with." Sumire asked her sister.

"We will eventually. We just gotta talk to them more."

"I hope you're right…"

"Anyways, ready for practice?"

"...as ready as I'll ever be."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, after Royal and a lot of thinking, I’m having Sumire be a love interest for Ren and Futaba.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Yoshizawa Twins (unofficially) join the group! And Ren meets some new neighbors as well!

The Yoshizawa Twins ate their lunch in the cafeteria. At times, Sumire rather they just eat somewhere else. So many people ask them so many questions and want to talk to the “famous” Twins. Or rather, talk to Kasumi.

“What’s the matter, Sumire?”

“Hm? Oh, it’s just that there’s a lot of people here.”

“We could eat outside, if you want.”

“No, it’s fine. If you want to be in here, then I’ll tolerate it.”

“Too late, already moving!” Kasumi said, enthusiastically, already nearing the door.

Sumire sighed as she picked up her bento box.

As the two got outside, they noticed the group, more specially Ren, sitting at the corner.

“Kasumi, no.” Sumire said.

Again, it was too late, as Kasumi was nearing the group. Sumire whined before following.

“Hey, Senpai! I was wondering if we could eat with you guys?” Kasumi asked.

“Sure.” Ren replied.

“Weren’t you two from the train station yesterday?” Ann asked.

“Yep!” Kasumi said, sitting down with them.

“So what brings you two here?” Shiho asked.

“Well, it was getting very crowded, and Sumire asked if we could leave.”

“Kasumi…” Sumire murmured

“I know, right? Can’t even hear myself think in there.” Futaba said.

“It also gives us a more private area to talk with one another!” Ann added.

“I see. It is really peaceful out here.” Kasumi said.

“Yep, very relaxing. No stress, no nothin’.” Ryuji said.

Sumire tried her best to stay as quiet as possible as the group talked away. Ren noticed this.

* * *

Later that night, while Ren was thinking of a way to talk to Sumire, he went to LeBlanc to talk with Futaba about it. As he arrived he saw four parents talking to his own.

“Well speak of the devil.” Sojiro said.

“We were just talking about you.” Mei said.

“Hey, champ. Come here.” Yuuta said.

As Ren came over, he saw the four adults better.

“These four are very close friends of ours. You’ve never met them before. Meet Mina and Taihei Narukami and Kirie and Josuke Arisato.” 

“Nice to meet you all.” Ren bowed.

“Nice to meet you too.” Josuke said.

“Your mother told us a lot about you.” Kirie said.

“If you don’t mind, we also brought our children along with us. They’re upstairs.” Taihei said.

Ren nodded. He ran upstairs as fast as he could.

When he arrived, Futaba was hanging out with three other kids. One had white hair, reminiscent of Mina Narukami. Two seemed around the same age, only one had red hair and the other had blue hair.

“Ren! Come!” Futaba said, motioning for Ren to come over.

“So you must be Amamiya. I’m Yu.”

“I’m Hamuko! And my brother is Minato!” The red haired girl said, pointing to her brother.

“Greetings.” Minato said, quietly.

“Pleasure is all mine.” Ren said, sitting with the group.

“You’re just in time, Ren. We were going to play Uno. Wanna play?

“Sure.” Ren said, taking Morgana out of his bag.

“Excellent!”

“Oh! You have a cat?” Hamuko said, picking up Morgana. “He’s so  _ adorable _ I feel like I’m gonna die!”

Futaba took out the cards out of the box and gave everyone seven cards to start with.

“Let the games begin!”

**_A Few Minutes Later…_ **

“C’mon! That’s no fairrr!!” Hamuko whined.

“It is fair. I  _ won _ fair and square.” Minato said, smuggingly.

“More like Unfair And Circle.” Futaba muttered

“That's not a real saying.” Ren said.

“It is in my book!” Futaba said.

Yu chuckled.

“This is just a game of luck!” Hamuko said.

“Pretty much, but it’s fun.” Yu said.

**_A Few More Minutes Later…_ **

“Read ‘em and weep, boys!” Hamuko cheered, throwing down the last card.

“Wow. You sure seem excited for a luck-based game.” Minato said.

“Well, it is. Unless I win. Then it’s all based on strategy and I’m a flippin’ genius! Ain’t that right, Kitty?” She said, rubbing Morgana’s tummy.

“Alright, Alright. How about one more round?” Futaba asked.

“I wonder how the kids are.” Mina said. A while ago, the adults went out to the Amamiya apartment, leaving the kids at LeBlanc.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine.” Mei assured Mina.

“OH MY GOD!! WHY DID YOU SKIP ME!?!?” Futaba yelled.

“Because I can.” Yu said.

“I HATE YOU!”

“Well,  _ I _ can change the color.” Ren said, knowing Hamuko and Futaba have one last card left. Yu did too, but he knew for a fact he wouldn’t make that big of a deal out of it.

“PLEASSSEEEE!!!” both girls cried.

“Jeez. Talk about overreacting…” Minato said.

Ren put down the Wild Card.

“Please go red!” Futaba said.

“Please go green!” Hamuko cried.

Ren grinned.

“Yellow.”

“NOOOOOOO!!!”

Minato looked like he was in deep thought.

“Eh, why not.” He said as he put down a +4 card. Hamuko slowly looked up.

“...why?” She whispered.

“...Green.”

“You jerk!” She yelled, grabbing 4 cards.

Futaba picked up a card, but nothing useful.

“Damnit.” She murmured.

Everyone looked at Yu in anticipation. His blank expression gave nothing away.

Then he put down a Wild Card. Yu won.

“ **NNNOOOOOOOOO!!!** ” Hamuko and Futaba yelled.

“HOW DARE YOU! ENDING IT OFF THE CHEAP WAY!!” Futaba said.

“How could you do this to me?” Hamuko asked.

Minato shrugged.

“Hmph! Morgana’s my brother now!” She said, picking up the cat.

Morgana meowed questioningly.

“Well, that was fun.” Ren said, getting up and stretching.

“I agree.” Yu said.

As the kids went downstairs, they noticed that their parents left.

“...Wanna play one more round?” Ren asked, jokingly.

“ **No.** ” Everyone said in unison.

After the adults came back, they took the kids home. What weirded Ren out was that Yu and Minato and Hamuko were following them. Even when they arrived at their apartment. As it turns out, they were neighbors. The P rooms were on the first floor. Ren lived in P5, Yu in P4, and Minato and Hamuko in P3.

“So will I see you at school tomorrow?” Ren asked.

“I guess you will.” Minato said.

“Who knows, maybe we’ll be in the same classes!” Hamuko stated.

“I guess time will tell on that one.” Yu said.

As they waved each other goodbye, Ren plopped onto his bed.

‘...oh shoot! Sumire!’ Ren thought.

Morgana jumped onto the bed.

“I forgot to talk to Futaba about Sumire. Guess I’ll just think of something myself.” Ren said. As he thought of what to do, he felt his eyelids getting tired. Before long, he succumbed to the drowsiness and fell asleep.

I opened his eyes. Everything felt so real yet… fake. I looked down and looked at my hands. I had red gloves and a black trench coat. I also noted I had a mask on my face. And… I grew up! 

“Senpai, what’s wrong?”

I turned to the voice.

It was Kasumi. But she was… weird. Instead of having brown hair, she had red hair. Her beauty mark on the left side of her face was gone as well. That or I couldn’t see it dude to the mask on her face. She had a gymnast getup as well.

“Is everything okay, Senpai?” She asked.

Her voice… it didn’t sound like Kasumi at all either. It sounded like…

“...Sumire?”

“Yes?”

“Where are we?” I asked.

“Hm? I guess that forgetful ailment is still affecting you… We’re in …’s Palace.”

I didn’t hear what she said. It was like a ring in my ear. But a Palace? This looked like he was inside a pyramid! And some green hieroglyphics popping out here and there.

A few people came over to us.

“Hey, you two!”

Ryuji?!

“Is everything okay?”

Ann?!

“We need to continue on, Joker.”

Ok, first question. Joker? And second ...Who was she? She had brown short hair. She looks familiar.... Oh! I’ve seen her around the school every now and then. Makoto, I think.

“Agreed. Unless you’re taking in the sheer beauty of this place. In which case, shall we do it together?”

Ok, who is this guy? Never seen him before. But he seemed pretty nice.

“No time for that. If we want … to help us, we gotta take her heart. Fast.”

A cat?! Wait… MORGANA?!

Okay, this was officially getting weird.

“Are you going to change my heart or what?”

They all looked behind me. It was a glowing light and it was coming towards us.

But that voice…

“Are you?”

Before the light engulfed us all, I recognized that voice. Of course I would.

“...Futaba?”

Ren got up from his bed fast, gasping.

It was all a dream. Ren started recollecting himself.

Morgana jumped onto the bed and meowed.

“Hey, Mona.” He said, rubbing his head.

That dream… it felt so… real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yes! The cast of Persona 3 and Persona 4 will be in this fic! Now I got a question for y’all! What would you rather see?  
> A) The events of P3 and P4 happening at the same time as P5  
> B) Let them be normal confidants  
> Or C) Let them be Phantom Thieves as well?  
> All of these sound really interesting and could lead to very unique encounters! So please say which one you’d like to see in the comments!
> 
> Also as a side note: I’m gonna try to update at least one of my fics every 2 to 4 weeks. It’s not a promise, but I’ll try to adhere to it.


End file.
